What is the Deccan?
The “Deccan” refers to a vast region in southern India that encompasses the expansive Deccan Plateau. This remarkable geological formation came into being millions of years ago during the collision of the Indian tectonic plate with the Eurasian plate. While this famously created the towering Himalayas, it also uplifted what we now know as the Deccan Plateau, covering parts of modern-day Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and sections of neighbouring states.
About 65 million years ago, this region witnessed one of the most massive volcanic events in Earth’s history, known as the Deccan Traps. These eruptions blanketed the area in thick layers of hard basalt rock, creating the distinctive flat-topped hills and rocky outcrops that define the plateau’s landscape today.
The Deccan Plateau is slightly tilted, sloping from the Western Ghats in the west towards the eastern plains, as indicated in cyan on this image from Wikipedia. It lies at an elevation of over 2,000 feet above sea level, making it cooler than the surrounding coastal regions. Among its cities, Bengaluru boasts the highest elevation at approximately 3,000 feet above sea level, while Pune, Hyderabad, and Nagpur are also prominent urban centres nestled within this historic and geographically significant region.
